Method and arrangement for managing user equipment access in a wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

Methods and arrangements in a node in a wireless communication system for managing user equipment access to the target node. The wireless communication system comprises the target node, a source node, a core network node and a user equipment. The user equipment is configured for wireless communication over a bearer with the source node and for performing a handover from the source node to the target node. The method comprises receiving a bearer request associated with the user equipment, obtaining a time information parameter associated with the queuing time of the bearer request in at least the source node, checking if communication resources are available for establishing a bearer with the user equipment. If communication resources are not available, the bearer request is placed in a priority queue, based on the received time information parameter.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement in a targetnode and a method and an arrangement in a node. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to a mechanism for managing user equipmentaccess to the target node when performing a handover of a user equipmentin a wireless communication system.

BACKGROUND

The success of commercial cellular networks based on GSM/WCDMA/CDMAradio access technologies etc. has lead to an increasing interest toalso offer priority services or public safety services such as e.g. firedepartment, police networks, over these networks and in such waycomplement or replace existing dedicated public safety networks andtechnologies such as TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA), by EuropeanTelecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), or other professionalmobile radio systems. Given also the introduction of new cellular radioaccess technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the evolutionof existing cellular networks towards offering mobile broadband servicesit is also of interest to extent the scope of priority services to notinclude only voice services but also to include Internet Protocol (IP)and multimedia based services such as e.g. Video calls, Push to talk,Voice over IP.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration betweengroups of telecommunications associations, to make a globally applicablethird generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the scopeof the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 project of theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU). 3GPP specifications arebased on evolved Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)specifications. 3GPP standardization encompasses Radio, Core Network andService architecture.

Specific requirements on 3GPP access are specified, which need to befulfilled to support multimedia priority services. These requirementsare inline with requirements in other standardization bodies orgovernmental agencies such as Government Emergency TelecommunicationsService (GETS). GETS is a White House-directed emergency phone serviceprovided by a division of the Department of Homeland Security. GETS usesenhancements based on existing commercial technology.

Multimedia priority services put requirements on the networks to supportmultiple priority levels and to ensure that priority users areprioritized when it comes to access to radio resource over othernon-priority users e.g. commercial users. Furthermore, it is requiredthat the network support queuing at congestion in scenarios wherepre-emption of lower priority users resources are not possible orallowed for commercial or regulatory purposes.

In order to support fair and strict priority queuing at radio resourcecongestion in the 3GPP networks it is required that the priority queuingmechanism is implemented close to the radio network where the radioresource congestion occurs. Queuing at application level will make itdifficult to guarantee fairness between different users since theapplication server will not be aware of the congestions on the radiocell level.

Basic support for queuing for setup of Radio Access Bearers (RAB) in theRadio Network Controller (RNC) in Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) Terrestrial

Radio Access Network (UTRAN)/Wideband Code Division Multiple Access(WCDMA) is standardized. The purpose of this functionality in UTRAN isto allow the RNC to queue bearer requests for one user. The standardizedfunctionality does not support fair priority queuing between differentusers and the queuing also is not maintained when an inter-RNC handoveris performed since in this scenario all pending RAB request will need tobe aborted.

For Circuit Switched (CS) services in GSM and UTRAN there is alsosupport for queuing in the scope of enhanced Multi-Level Precedence andPre-emption service (eMLPP). Also in this case will the queuing notsupport inter-Base station or inter-RNC handovers (HO).

Not maintaining queuing status at inter-BSC and inter-RNC handovers maybe acceptable in existing GSM/UTRAN networks since the BSCs and RNCscover a large area and inter-BSC/RNC handovers are rare. There ishowever a recent trend in cellular networks to use a more flat RANarchitecture where there are no central coordinating node which owns thecell level resources. Instead the cell level resources are owned by thebase station. LTE (E-UTRAN) radio access network is an example of aradio network using a flat architecture where the base station node(eNodeB or eNB) only serves a few cells. LTE is sometimes also referredto as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). Flatarchitectures are also possible for UTRAN and WiMAX networks. No queuingmechanism has been defined in LTE (E-UTRAN).

Current queuing mechanism as for instance defined in 3GPP does notsupport the case when the node performing the admission control, i.e.the cell resource owner, and maintaining the queuing is changed e.g. aninter-RNC handover. There is therefore a risk that the user session insuch a queue would either be blocked or will loose its position in thequeue. Since these types of handovers will be very frequent in LTE andother networks using a flat RAN architecture it will be difficult withthe existing solutions to maintain a fair and strict priority queue incase of radio network congestion affecting multiple cells.

Currently it is specified that any pending bearer requests will beignored or dropped for users experiencing inter-eNodeB handover. In thiscase it is required that the queued bearer request is re-requested fromthe MME in the new eNodeB however in this case the queuing time in thesource eNodeB will not be known in the target eNodeB so the targeteNodeB has no choice but to put the new request at the end of its queue(assuming the target cell is also congested). If the user then moves onto a new or old eNodeB before the pending bearer is setup the sameprocess will be repeated again meaning that in theory the bearer requestwill be queued for a significantly longer time compared to if the userwas stationary. This leads to unfairness between different users andwill introduce some unpredictability in the queuing process which mightmean that the queuing solution do not fulfill the requirements.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedperformance in a wireless communication system.

The object is achieved by a method in a target node in a wirelesscommunication system. The method aims at managing user equipment accessto the target node. The wireless communication system comprises thetarget node, a source node, a core network node and a user equipment.The user equipment is configured for wireless communication over abearer with the source node and for performing a handover from thesource node to the target node. The method comprises receiving a bearerrequest associated with the user equipment. The method also comprisesobtaining a time information parameter associated with the queuing timeof the bearer request in at least the source node. Further, the methodcomprises checking if communication resources are available forestablishing a bearer with the user equipment. In further addition, themethod comprises placing the bearer request in a priority queue, basedon the received time information parameter, if communication resourcesare not available.

The object is also achieved by an arrangement in a in a target node in awireless communication system. The arrangement is configured formanaging user equipment access to the target node. The wirelesscommunication system comprises the target node, a source node, a corenetwork node and a user equipment. The user equipment is configured forwireless communication over a bearer with the source node and forperforming a handover from the source node to the target node.

The arrangement comprises a receiving unit. The receiving unit isadapted to receive a bearer request associated with the user equipment.Further, the arrangement comprises an obtaining unit. The obtaining unitis adapted to obtain a time information parameter associated with thequeuing time of the bearer request in at least the source node. Furtheryet, the arrangement in addition comprises a checking unit. The checkingunit is adapted to check if communication resources are available forestablishing a bearer with the user equipment. Also, in addition, thearrangement further comprises a queue placing unit. The queue placingunit is adapted to place the bearer request in a priority queue, basedon the received time information parameter.

The object is also achieved by a method in a node in a wirelesscommunication system. The method aims at managing user equipment accessto a target node. The wireless communication system comprises a corenetwork node, the target node, a source node, and a user equipment. Theuser equipment is configured for wireless communication over a bearerwith the source node and for performing a handover from the source nodeto the target node. The method comprises establishing a time informationparameter associated with the queuing time of a bearer request of theuser equipment in at least the source node. Also, the method furthercomprises sending the bearer request to the target node.

The object is also achieved by an arrangement in a node in a wirelesscommunication system. The arrangement is configured for managing userequipment access to a target node. The wireless communication systemcomprises a core network node, the target node, a source node, and auser equipment. The user equipment is configured for wirelesscommunication over a bearer with the source node and for performing ahandover from the source node to the target node. The arrangementcomprises an establishing unit. The establishing unit is adapted toestablish a time information parameter associated with the queuing timeof a bearer request of the user equipment, in at least the source node.Also, the arrangement comprises a sender. The sender is adapted to sendthe bearer request comprising the time information to the target node.

The present methods and arrangements provides a mechanism which wouldallow fair priority queuing also for users experiencing inter-eNBhandovers. This is achieved by introducing a time stamping mechanismwhich can be used to let session belonging to mobile users that havequeued in one eNodeB/cell to get appropriate priority when entering anew eNodeB/cell which is also experiencing congestion. The solution alsomakes it possible for users to return to their old position in the queueif they would return to the same eNodeB as they have queued in before.Thereby the overall system performance in the wireless communicationsystem is improved.

An advantage of the solution is that it makes it possible to supportfair and strict priority queuing also during mobility, where the noderesponsible for admission control and queuing is changed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described more in detail in relationto the enclosed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a wirelesscommunication system according to an embodiment of the present solution.

FIG. 2 is a combined signaling and flowchart illustrating an embodimentof the present method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a combined signaling and flowchart illustrating an embodimentof the present method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting the present method according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting a method in a target node, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram depicting an arrangement in a target node,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting a method in a node, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting an arrangement in a node, accordingto some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is defined as a method and an arrangement in a target nodeand a method and an arrangement in a node, which may be put intopractice in the embodiments described below. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. It should be understood that there is no intent tolimit the present method and arrangement in a base band unit to any ofthe particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the present methodsand arrangements are to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by theclaims.

Still other objects and features of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood,however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes ofillustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, forwhich reference should be made to the appended claims. It should befurther understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scaleand that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended toconceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration over a wireless communication system100 and a user equipment 110 comprised within the wireless communicationsystem 100. A user situated in a vehicle 105 is managing a userequipment 110, within the wireless communication system 100. Further,the wireless communication system 100 may comprise a source node 120, orsource base station, in a source cell 121 and a target node 130, ortarget base station, in a target cell 132. The source cell 121 and thetarget cell 132 are separated by a cell border 150.

Although two base stations 120, 130 are shown in FIG. 1, it is to beunderstood that another configuration of base station transceivers maybe connected through, for example, a mobile switching centre and othernetwork nodes, to define the wireless communication system 100. Further,the base stations 120, 130 may be referred to as e.g. an evolved Node B(eNode B), a Node B, an access point, a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) and/or abase transceiver station, Access Point Base Station, base stationrouter, etc depending e.g. of the radio access technology andterminology used.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 110 may be represented by awireless communication terminal, a mobile cellular telephone, a PersonalCommunications Systems terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), alaptop, a computer or any other kind of device configured to manageradio resources.

The user equipment 110 is adapted to communicate with the base stations120, 130 over a bearer. The bearer may in this context be seen as aresource for transmitting any user data such as e.g. a bearer channelfor carrying user data to/from the user equipment 110.

The wireless communication system 100 may be based on a technology suchas e.g. LTE just to mention a none limiting example. However, thewireless communication system 100 may be based on technologies such ase.g. Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM), Code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA),CDMA 2000, High Speed Downlink Packet Data Access (HSDPA), High SpeedUplink Packet Data Access (HSUPA), High Data Rate (HDR) etc, just tomention some none limiting examples.

Further, as used herein, the wireless communication system 100 mayrelate to various radio access technologies in the traditional sense, awireless local area network (LAN) or a wireless personal area networkwithout departing from the teachings of the present invention. Thesenetworks may comprise, for example, radio access technologies, such asEnhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), General Packet RadioService (GPRS), High Speed Packet Data Access (HSPA), Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) and/or Wireless Local Area Networks(WLAN), such as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMAX), Bluetooth or according to any otherwireless communication technology.

It is to be noted however, that the invention is not in any way limitedto be performed exclusively in a wireless communication system 100, butmay be performed in a wireless communication system 100 wherein somenodes are wirelessly connected and some nodes have a wired connection.

The wireless communication system 100 further comprises a core networknode 140. The core network node 140 may be represented by e.g. a MME,according to some embodiments. The core network node 140 is situated inone place and may provide services to several nodes 120, 130. The nodes120, 130 may be placed several kilometres away from each other and thecore network node 140.

The user equipment 110 may communicate with other wireless communicationdevices, or network nodes not shown in FIG. 1, via any, some or all ofthe source node 120 or the target node 130 comprised within the wirelesscommunication system 100.

FIG. 1 further illustrates the user equipment 110 as it moves from thesource node 120 towards the target node 130. Somewhere in the proximityof the cell border 150 in FIG. 1, the target node 130 becomes the bestnode. At that point in time, it may be decided to initiate a handoverfrom the source node 120 to the target node 130.

However, in the illustrated example, the bearer request of the userequipment 110 is placed in a queue at the source node 120 due to trafficcongestion at the source node 120. Also the target node 130 is congestedin the illustrated example. When the handover is to be performed, thebearer request of the user equipment 110 is placed in a queue in thetarget node 130, in a place corresponding to the already passed waitingtime and/or priority level as will be explained in the followingillustrated examples.

The handover may be performed due to several reasons. One is that theradio link quality is better on one radio link than another radio link.However, a handover may also be made e.g. in order to balance the loadbetween the source nodes 120 and the target node 130, according to someembodiments. Thus a handover to a target cell 130 may be performed inorder to avoid traffic congestion in the source node 120, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the present method comprising adedicated bearer setup procedure in 3GPP LTE, and the environmentwherein the present method may operate. Queuing for priority servicesmay be introduced in this procedure by the target node 130, holding step205 and onwards until the radio resources are available to serve therequested bearer. This is possible since the target node 130 hascomplete knowledge of the radio resource situation in the cell 131 andmay also queue requests associated with other users in the same way thusit is possible to provide fair priority queuing between different usersin the same target node 130.

The dedicated bearer setup procedure for the user equipment 110 may bedivided into a number of steps 201-212.

Step 201

An IP CAN session modification message is sent from a PCRF 240 to thePDN gateway 230.

Step 202

A dedicated bearer request is created at the PDN gateway 230 and sent tothe serving gateway 220.

Step 203

The dedicated bearer request is forwarded from the serving gateway 220to the core network node 140.

Step 204

A bearer setup request and/or session management request is sent fromthe core network node 140 to the target node 130. The bearer setuprequest comprising time information and/or a priority level valueassociated with the user equipment 110.

The time information parameter may be either an absolute time on whenthe bearer was first requested at the source node 120 or a relative timeon how long the bearer request has been queued in other nodes.

The target node 130 may use this time information to determine whichplace the bearer request would have in the priority queue in case ofcongestion, as further explained in association with FIG. 4.

Step 205

A RRC connection reconfiguration is sent in a message from the targetnode 130 to the user equipment 110.

Step 206

A message confirming the RRC connection reconfiguration complete is sentin a message from the user equipment 110 to the target node 130.

Step 207

A bearer setup response is sent from the target node 130 to the corenetwork node 140.

Step 208

A direct transfer is made from the user equipment 110 to the target node130.

Step 209

A session management response message is sent from the target node 130to core network node 140.

Step 210

The core network node 140 creates a dedicated bearer response to theserving gateway 220.

Step 211

The serving gateway 220 forwards the dedicated bearer response to thePDN gateway 230.

Step 212

The PDN gateway 230 send a IP CAN session modification message to thePCRF.

In case a handover between the source node 120 and the target node 130occurs, the core network node 140 re-requests the queued bearer requestin the target node 130 and includes similar time information making itpossible for the queued bearer request to get priority over bearerrequests with shorter queuing time. In case relative time information isused the queuing time may be updated in the core network node 140 oralternatively reported from the source node 120 to the target node 130.In case the time information is absolute it does not need to be updatedbut instead it may require that the clocks in the different nodes 120,130, 140 are reasonable synchronized.

FIG. 3 illustrates a combined signaling and flowchart depictingembodiments of the present method.

The X2 based handover for the user equipment 110 from the source node120 to the target node 130 may be divided into a number of steps300-318.

Step 300

Area restriction is provided concerning the source node 120, the targetnode 130, the core network node 140 and the serving gateway 220.

Step 301

A measurement control message is sent from the source node 120 to theuser equipment 110.

Step 302

A measurement report is sent from the user equipment 110 to the sourcenode 120 as a response to the previously sent measurement controlmessage.

Step 303

A handover decision concerning the user equipment 110 is taken at thesource node 120.

Step 304

A handover request is sent from the source node 120 to the target node130. The handover request may comprise, or be sent together with timeinformation and/or a priority level value associated with the userequipment 110.

The time information parameter may be either an absolute time on whenthe bearer was first requested at the source node 120 or a relative timeon how long the bearer request has been queued in other nodes.

Step 305

An admission control is performed at the target node 130. Thus it ischecked if the handover of the user equipment 110 to the target node 130is possible, i.e. if resources are available. According to someembodiments, it may be checked if services with lower priority value bepre-empted.

Step 306

A handover request acknowledgement is sent from the target node 130 tothe source node 120.

Step 307

RRC connection reconfiguration comprising mobility control informationis sent to the user equipment 110. The user equipment 110 is detachedfrom the source node 120 and synchronises with the target node 130.

Step 308

The source node 120 send a SN status transfer to the target node 130.The target node 130 buffer packets from the source node 120.

Step 309

Synchronisation between the user equipment 110 and the target node 130is performed.

Step 310

Uplink allocation is performed and sent from the target node 130 to theuser equipment 110.

Step 311

The user equipment 110 send RRC connection reconfiguration complete tothe target node 130.

Step 312

The target node 130 send a path switch request to the core network node140.

Step 313

A user plane update request is sent from the core network node 140 tothe serving gateway 220.

Step 314

The downlink path is switched at the serving gateway 220.

Step 315

User plane update response is sent from the serving gateway 220 to thecore network node 140.

Step 316

A path switch request acknowledgement is sent from the core network node140 to the target node 130.

Step 317

Having received the acknowledgement, the target node 130 send a userequipment context release to the source node 120.

Step 318

The source node 120 releases resources and the handover is therebycompleted.

Thus according to some embodiments, handover may be triggered for a userequipment 110 that have a queued bearer request. The present method isbased on that the handover procedure is modified so that any pendingbearer request in one source node 120 is transferred to the target node130 after an inter-base station handover. Information about pendingbearers/bearer requests can be transferred in the handover signalinge.g. in step 304.

FIG. 4 illustrates embodiments of the present method at a target node130, adapted to provide service to a user equipment 110 when receiving ahandover request concerning that user equipment 110.

A bearer request is received at the target node 130. The bearer requestmay comprise a priority value and/or time info parameter concerning theuser equipment 110. Further, the bearer request may be sent from thecore network node 140, such as an MME, according to some embodiments.Alternatively, the bearer request may be sent from the source node 120.However, it may according to some embodiments be that the bearer requestis sent from one node, e.g. the core network node 140 and the priorityvalue and/or time info parameter concerning the user equipment 110 maybe sent in a separate message, e.g. from another node such as the sourcenode 120.

The target node 130 may use this time information to determine whichplace the requested bearer should have in the priority queue of thetarget node 130 in case of congestion.

The time information parameter could be either an absolute time on whenthe bearer was first requested or a relative time on how long the bearerrequest has been queued in other nodes i.e. base stations such as thesource node 120. In case of relative time the target node 130 may addthe time queued in the own node to the time reported from the sourcenode 120. In case the time information is absolute it does not need tobe updated but instead the clocks in at least some of the differentnodes 110, 120, 130, 140 involved in the handover with advantage may bereasonable synchronized.

It is then controlled at the target node 130 if resources available inthe cell? If resources are available, resources are setup and a beareraccept is sent to the core network node 140. In such case, no furtherqueuing is necessary.

However, if no resources are available, it may be checked if there areany queued bearer request with the same priority at the target node 130.If there are no queued bearer requests with the same priority, a newpriority queue may be created for the new bearer request.

If there is at least one queued bearer request with the same priority atthe target node 130, the new bearer request may be put in the existingpriority queue. The position in the queue may be determined by the totalqueuing time, relative to the queuing time of other bearer requests.

The bearer request may then be put in the queue. Setup resources may begiven to the queued bearer request which has the highest priority and/orlongest waiting time according to a pre determined formula.

It may be mentioned as a non limiting illustrative example that anybearer request of a first priority value may be allocated setupresources in queuing time order as long as there are any bearer requestsof the first priority value left. Then bearer requests of a secondpriority value may be allocated setup resources in queuing time order.Bearer requests of a third priority value may be allocated if they havea queuing time e.g. two times longer than the queuing time of the bearerrequests of the second priority value with the longest queuing time,just to mention an arbitrary, non limiting example.

When resources are available, a bearer accept is sent to the corenetwork node 140 and a bearer is set up for the user equipment 110 whichhas been selected by the queuing algorithm.

All of the herein described solutions make it possible to maintain apriority queue at handover. The present solutions may with certainadvantage be used for all 3GPP specified handover scenarios, such ase.g. S1 based handover, Inter-RAT handover etc, including alsointer-RNC/BSC handovers in UTRAN and GERAN as well as other systems likeWiMAX, CDMA2000, UMB etc.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method in a target node 130 in awireless communication system 100. The method aims at managing userequipment access to the target node 130. The wireless communicationsystem 100 comprises the target node 130, a source node 120, a corenetwork node 140 and a user equipment 110 being configured for wirelesscommunication over a bearer with the source node 120 and for performinga handover from the source node 120 to the target node 130.

To appropriately manage user equipment access to the target node 130,the method may comprise a number of method steps 501-506. It is howeverto be noted that the method steps 501-506 may be performed in anotherchronological order than the enumeration indicates and that some ofthem, e.g. step 502 and step 503, or even all steps may be performedsimultaneously or in an altered, arbitrarily rearranged, decomposed oreven completely reversed chronological order. The method may comprisethe following steps:

Step 501

A bearer request associated with the user equipment 110 is received.

The bearer request associated with the user equipment 110 may accordingto some embodiments be received from the source node 120. However, thebearer request may according to some embodiments be received from thecore network node 140.

Step 502

A time information parameter associated with the queuing time of thebearer request in at least the source node 120 is obtained.

The obtained time information parameter may be an absolute timeparameter, indicating the point in time when the bearer was firstrequested at the source node 120, according to some embodiments.However, according to some embodiments, the obtained time informationparameter may instead be a relative time parameter, indicating how longtime the bearer request has been queued in at least one node 120,different from the target node 130.

The obtained time information parameter may be received together withthe bearer request associated with the user equipment 110, according tosome embodiments.

Step 503

This step is optional and may only be performed within some embodiments.

A priority value associated with the user equipment 110 may according tosome embodiments be obtained.

The obtained priority value may be received together with the bearerrequest associated with the user equipment 110, according to someembodiments.

Step 504

A check if communication resources are available for establishing abearer with the user equipment 110 is performed.

The step of checking if communication resources are available maycomprise releasing communication resources allocated to a bearer withlower priority and/or shorter queuing time than the bearer requestassociated with the user equipment 110, according to some embodiments.

Step 505

If communication resources are not available, the bearer request isplaced in a priority queue, based on the received time informationparameter.

The step of placing the bearer request in a priority queue may be basedon the time information parameter and the priority value, according tosome embodiments.

Step 506

If communication resources are available, a bearer accept message issent to the core network node 140 and establishing wirelesscommunication over a bearer with the user equipment 110.

FIG. 6 schematically depicts an embodiment of an arrangement 600 in atarget node 130 in a wireless communication system 100. The arrangement600 is adapted to perform the above described method steps 501-506. Thearrangement 600 is thus adapted to manage user equipment access to thetarget node 130. The wireless communication system 100 comprises thetarget node 130, a source node 120, a core network node 140 and a userequipment 110. The user equipment 110 is configured for wirelesscommunication over a bearer with the source node 120 and for performinga handover from the source node 120 to the target node 130.

Any internal electronics of the node 120, 130, 140, not completelynecessary for the understanding of the present arrangement 600 in atarget node 130, configured to perform a method according to steps501-506 has been omitted from FIG. 6.

The arrangement 600 comprises a receiving unit 610. The receiving unit610 is adapted to receive a bearer request associated with the userequipment 110. Also, the arrangement comprises an obtaining unit 620.The obtaining unit 620 is adapted to obtain a time information parameterassociated with the queuing time of the bearer request in at least thesource node 120. Further, the arrangement 600 comprises a checking unit640. The checking unit 640 is adapted to check if communicationresources are available for establishing a bearer with the userequipment 110. Further yet, the arrangement 600 comprises a queueplacing unit 650. The queue placing unit 650 is adapted to place thebearer request in a priority queue, based on the received timeinformation parameter.

Further, according to some embodiments, the arrangement 600 may comprisea second obtaining unit 630. The second obtaining unit 630 may bearranged to obtain a priority value, associated with the user equipment110.

In addition, the arrangement 600 may further comprise a sending unit660. The sending unit 660 may be adapted to send signals e.g. to thecore network node 140, according to some embodiments.

The arrangement may further comprise a timer unit 670, according to someoptional embodiments. The optional timer unit 670 may be adapted togenerate a time parameter value associated with the moment of the bearerrequest for a user equipment 110. The timer 670 may according to someembodiments generate an absolute time value at the moment of the bearerrequest and set that absolute time value as the time parameter valueassociated with the moment of the bearer request for the user equipment110. However, according to other embodiments, the generated timeparameter value associated with the moment of the bearer request for theuser equipment 110 may be subtracted from the present time value inorder to achieve a relative time value, which in turn may be used as thetime parameter value associated with the user equipment 110 whenestablishing the bearer request queue.

However, according to some embodiments, the arrangement 600 in thetarget node 130 may also comprise e.g. a control unit 690. According tosome embodiments, the control unit 690 may be a Central Processing Unit(CPU), a microprocessor, a Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC)microcontroller or any other appropriate device which may be adapted tointerpret computer program instructions and processes data.

It is to be noted that the described units 610-690 comprised within thearrangement 600 in the target node 130 are to be regarded as separatelogical entities but not with necessity separate physical entities. Any,some or all of the units 610-690 may be comprised or co-arranged withinthe same physical unit. However, in order to facilitate theunderstanding of the functionality of the arrangement 600 in the targetnode 130, the comprised units 610-690 are illustrated as separatephysical units in FIG. 6.

Some Particular Embodiments of the Present Target Node Method

The present method in the target node 130 in a wireless communicationsystem 100 for managing user equipment access to the target node 130 maybe implemented through one or more processors 690 in the target node130, together with computer program code for performing the functions ofthe method. The computer program code may also be provided as a computerprogram product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carryingcomputer program code for performing the methods according to thepresent solution when being loaded into the processor unit 690. The datacarrier may be a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, or any other appropriatemedium such as a disk or tape that can hold machine readable data. Thecomputer program code may furthermore be provided as program code on aserver and downloaded to the target node 130 remotely.

Thus a computer readable medium is provided, encoded with a computerprogram for managing user equipment access to the target node 130. Thewireless communication system 100 comprises the target node 130, asource node 120, a core network node 140 and a user equipment 110. Theuser equipment 110 is configured for wireless communication over abearer with the source node 120 and for performing a handover from thesource node 120 to the target node 130.

The computer program comprises computer program code configured to makethe processor 690 comprised within the target node 130 perform the stepof receiving a bearer request associated with the user equipment 110.

Also, the computer program code is configured to make the processor 690perform the step of obtaining a time information parameter associatedwith the queuing time of the bearer request in at least the source node120.

Further the computer program code is configured to make the processor690 perform the step of checking if communication resources areavailable for establishing a bearer with the user equipment 110.

In addition, the computer program code is also configured to make theprocessor 690 perform the step of placing the bearer request in apriority queue, based on the received time information parameter, ifcommunication resources are not available.

The program code may execute entirely in the target node 130, partly inthe target node 130, as a stand-alone software package, partly in thetarget node 130 and partly on a remote computing device or entirely onthe remote computing device. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputing device may be connected to the target node 130 through anetwork connection such as e.g. a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), or through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating embodiments of the present method ina node 120, 140 in a wireless communication system 100. The presentmethod aims at managing user equipment access to a target node 130. Thewireless communication system 100 comprises a core network node 140, thetarget node 130, a source node 120, and a user equipment 110. The userequipment 110 is configured for wireless communication over a bearerwith the source node 120 and for performing a handover from the sourcenode 120 to the target node 130.

The node 120, 140 may be represented by a core network node 140 such ase.g. an MME, according to some embodiments. However, according to someembodiments the node 120, 140 may be the source node 120, e.g. a sourcebase station, a source eNodeB etc according to some embodiments.

To appropriately manage user equipment access to the target node 130,the method may comprise a number of method steps 701-704. It is howeverto be noted that the method steps 701-704 may be performed in anotherchronological order than the enumeration indicates and that some ofthem, e.g. step 701 and step 702, or even all steps may be performedsimultaneously or in an altered, arbitrarily rearranged, decomposed oreven completely reversed chronological order. The method may comprisethe following steps:

Step 701

A time information parameter associated with the queuing time of abearer request of the user equipment 110 is established. It may be thequeuing time of the user equipment 110 in the source node 120.

Step 702

This step is optional and may only be performed within some embodiments.A priority value associated with the user equipment 110 may beestablished, according to some embodiments.

Step 703

The bearer request is sent to the target node 130.

The bearer request may comprise the time information parameterassociated with the queuing time of a bearer request of the userequipment 110 and/or the priority value associated with the userequipment 110, according to some embodiments.

Thus the bearer request to be sent to the target node 130 may compriseat least one parameter of the established time information parameterassociated with the queuing time of the bearer request of the userequipment 110 or the priority value associated with the user equipment110.

Step 704

This step is optional and may only be performed within some embodiments.A bearer accept message, associated with the user equipment 110 isreceived. The bearer accept message may be received from the target node130.

FIG. 8 schematically depicts an embodiment of an arrangement 800 in anode 120, 140 in a wireless communication system 100. The arrangement800 is configured to manage user equipment access to a target node 130by performing the method steps 701-706. The arrangement 800 is thusadapted to manage user equipment access to the target node 130. Thewireless communication system 100 comprises the target node 130, asource node 120, a core network node 140 and a user equipment 110. Theuser equipment 110 is configured for wireless communication over abearer with the source node 120 and for performing a handover from thesource node 120 to the target node 130.

Any internal electronics of the node 120, 140, not completely necessaryfor the understanding of the present arrangement 800 in the node 120,140 configured to perform a method according to steps 701-704 has beenomitted from FIG. 8.

The arrangement 800 comprises an establishing unit 810. The establishingunit 810 is adapted to establish a time information parameter associatedwith the queuing time of a bearer request of the user equipment 110, inat least the source node 120. Also, the arrangement 800 comprises asender 830. The sender 830 is adapted to send the bearer request to thetarget node 130.

The arrangement 800 may further comprise a second establishing unit 820,according to some embodiments. The second establishing unit 820 may beadapted to establish a priority value associated with the user equipment110.

Further, the arrangement 800 may also comprise a receiver 840. Thereceiver 840 may be adapted to receive signals, according to someembodiments.

However, according to some embodiments, the arrangement 800 in the node120, 140 may also comprise e.g. a control unit 850. According to someembodiments, the control unit 850 may be a Central Processing Unit(CPU), a microprocessor, a Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC)microcontroller or any other appropriate device which may be adapted tointerpret computer program instructions and processes data.

It is to be noted that the described units 810-850 comprised within thearrangement 800 in the node 120, 140 are to be regarded as separatelogical entities but not with necessity separate physical entities. Any,some or all of the units 810-850 may be comprised or co-arranged withinthe same physical unit. However, in order to facilitate theunderstanding of the functionality of the arrangement 800 in the node120, 140, the comprised units 810-850 are illustrated as separatephysical units in FIG. 8.

Some Particular Embodiments of the Present Node Method

The present method in the node 120, 140 in a wireless communicationsystem 100 for managing user equipment access to the target node 130 maybe implemented through one or more processors 850 in the node 120, 140,together with computer program code for performing the functions of themethod. The computer program code may also be provided as a computerprogram product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carryingcomputer program code for performing the methods according to thepresent solution when being loaded into the processor unit 850. The datacarrier may be a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, or any other appropriatemedium such as a disk or tape that can hold machine readable data. Thecomputer program code may furthermore be provided as program code on aserver and downloaded to the node 120, 140 remotely.

Thus a computer readable medium is provided, encoded with a computerprogram for managing user equipment access to the target node 130. Thewireless communication system 100 comprises the target node 130, asource node 120, a core network node 140 and a user equipment 110. Theuser equipment 110 is configured for wireless communication over abearer with the source node 120 and for performing a handover from thesource node 120 to the target node 130.

The computer program comprises computer program code configured to makethe processor 850 comprised within the node 120, 140 perform the step ofestablishing a time information parameter associated with the queuingtime of a bearer request of the user equipment 110, in at least thesource node 120.

Also, the computer program code is configured to make the processor 850perform the step of sending the bearer request to the target node 130.

The program code may execute entirely in the node 120, 140, partly inthe node 120, 140, as a stand-alone software package, partly in the node120, 140 and partly on a remote computing device or entirely on theremote computing device. In the latter scenario, the remote computingdevice may be connected to the node 120, 140 through a networkconnection such as e.g. a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), or through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider.

Some Clarification Concerning Interpretation of used Terminology andExpressions

The terminology used in the detailed description of the particularexemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is notintended to be limiting of the invention. In the drawings, like numbersrefer to like elements.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. Itwill be further understood that the terms “includes,” “comprises,”“including” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood thatwhen an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” toanother element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the otherelement or intervening elements may be present. Furthermore, “connected”or “coupled” as used herein may include wirelessly connected or coupled.As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientificterms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

1. Method in a target node in a wireless communication system formanaging user equipment access to the target node when a user equipmentis performing a handover from a source node to the target node, thewireless communication system comprises the target node, the sourcenode, a core network node and the user equipment being configured forwireless communication over a bearer with the source node and forperforming a handover from the source node to the target node, themethod comprises the steps of: receiving a bearer request associatedwith the user equipment, obtaining a time information parameterassociated with the a queuing time of the bearer request in at least thesource node, checking if communication resources are available forestablishing a bearer with the user equipment, and responsive tocommunication resources not being available, placing the bearer requestin a priority queue, responsive to the received time informationparameter.
 2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprisesthe further step of: obtaining a priority value associated with the userequipment, and wherein the step of placing the bearer request in apriority queue is responsive to the time information parameter and thepriority value.
 3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the obtainedtime information parameter is an absolute time parameter, indicating thepoint in time when the bearer was first requested at the source node. 4.Method according to claim 1, wherein the obtained time informationparameter is a relative time parameter, indicating how long time thebearer request has been queued in at least one node, different from thetarget node.
 5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the bearer requestassociated with the user equipment is received from the core networknode.
 6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the bearer requestassociated with the user equipment is received from the source node. 7.Method according to claim 1, wherein the obtained time informationparameter is received together with the bearer request associated withthe user equipment.
 8. Method according to claim 2, wherein the obtainedpriority value is received together with the bearer request associatedwith the user equipment.
 9. Method according to claim 1, wherein thestep of checking if communication resources are available comprisescausing a release of communication resources allocated to a bearer withlower priority and/or shorter queuing time than the bearer requestassociated with the user equipment.
 10. Method according to claim 1,comprising, responsive to communication resources being available, thefurther step of: sending a bearer accept message to the core networknode and establishing wireless communication over a bearer with the userequipment.
 11. Arrangement in a target node in a wireless communicationsystem for managing user equipment access to the target node when a userequipment is performing a handover from a source node to the targetnode, the wireless communication system comprises the target node, asource node, a core network node and a user equipment being configuredfor wireless communication over a bearer with the source node and forperforming a handover from the source node to the target node, thearrangement comprises: a receiving unit, adapted to receive a bearerrequest associated with the user equipment, an obtaining unit, adaptedto obtain a time information parameter associated with a queuing time ofthe bearer request in at least the source node, a checking unit, adaptedto check if communication resources are available for establishing abearer with the user equipment, and a queue placing unit, adapted toplace the bearer request in a priority queue, responsive tocommunication resources not being available and responsive to thereceived time information parameter.
 12. Method in a node in a wirelesscommunication system for managing user equipment access to a target nodewhen a user equipment is performing a handover from a source node to thetarget node, the wireless communication system comprises a core networknode, the target node, a source node, and a user equipment beingconfigured for wireless communication over a bearer with the source nodeand for performing a handover from the source node to the target node,the method comprises the steps of: establishing a time informationparameter associated with a queuing time of a bearer request of the userequipment, in at least the source node, and sending the bearer requestto the target node.
 13. Method according to claim 12, wherein the methodcomprises the further step of: establishing a priority value associatedwith the user equipment, and wherein the bearer request to be sent tothe target node comprises at least one parameter of the established timeinformation parameter associated with the queuing time of a bearerrequest of the user equipment or the priority value associated with theuser equipment.
 14. Method according to claim 12, wherein the node inthe network is the core network node.
 15. Method according to claim 12,wherein the node in the network is the source node.
 16. Arrangement in anode in a wireless communication system for managing user equipmentaccess to a target node when a user equipment is performing a handoverfrom a source node to the target node, the wireless communication systemcomprises a core network node, the target node, a source node, and auser equipment being configured for wireless communication over a bearerwith the source node and for performing a handover from the source nodeto the target node, the arrangement comprises: an establishing unit,adapted to establish a time information parameter associated with the aqueuing time of a bearer request of the user equipment, in at least thesource node, and a sender, adapted to send the bearer request to thetarget node.